DTI INFO DRIVE: Consumers urged to know their rights, responsibilities

With more retail shops opening in Cebu and online businesses proliferating, consumers are encouraged to be aware of their rights and responsibilities to avoid being victimized by unscrupulous traders or retailers.

Consumers should be more proactive in exercising their rights and their responsibilities, said Jojie Villamor, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Central Visayas information officer during a recent forum.

“For online shops, you must know first who you are dealing with. Are they legitimate? Ideally, anything that earns should be registered with DTI including online shops, but some of these shops are not registered. We need your help to alert us,” Villamor said.

She encouraged consumers or the public to attend seminars on consumer rights at the Nerbac (National Economic Research and Business Action Center) office of the DTI.

“We hold seminars on Fair Trade Laws and Consumer Rights and Responsibilities every Wednesday at the Nerbac office,” said Villamor.

She also said the DTI is also intensifying its information campaign in this area and these includes holding seminars and distributing materials about consumers’ rights in Cebuano or English.
She said that there are eight basic rights (See table.) that every consumer should know.

These include the right to basic needs, safety, information, choose, representation and redress.

While these rights are there to help protect consumers, Villamor said that consumers should also be aware of their five responsibilities which include critical awareness, social concern, and environmental awareness.

“It is the responsibility of the consumer to know first about the product they are going to buy, check its quality and get a fair deal on whatever they transact in,” she said.

She also said that most of the complaints they received from consumers involved the warranty of a product and consumers being shortchanged by the retailers—problems which can be settled within the establishments where they bought the products.

“When you have complaints about a product you purchased, you can bring that up first to the establishment’s customer care desks and settle it. Most of the time it gets settled from that level,” she said.

Villamor said most consumers now are aware of their rights especially with the availability of social networking sites which have become platforms of communication for the consumers’ dismay or satisfaction over a product or service.

“Some post negative comments and some also praise a product or an establishment. Consumers are more empowered now, and the establishments have become more responsive in addressing their customers’ concerns,” she said.

She, however, cautions consumers to be more circumspect in their negative comments online as it may cause them legal problems should an establishment take legal steps when it feels it’s being unduly harassed.

“The solution is always to talk to them and know more about your basic rights and your responsibilities. The two should go in tandem because if you only assert your right but don’t practice your responsibilities, you may end up at the losing end,” said Villamor.

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